Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag requires online pass for some single player content

If you’ve owned a PS3 or Xbox 360 then chances are good you’ve encountered an online pass in some form or another. Typically, a code is included in the box with a new game that you use to register the game with a publisher and unlock multiplayer content. However, Ubisoft is extending its version of an online pass to single-player content for Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag.

Ubisoft calls it a Uplay Passport. As usual it will mean entering a code for the game, but in the case of Black Flag it will unlock the ability to add ships you board to your fleet. Those ships can then be sent on missions that once complete will return with useful items and money.

This is a feature of the single-player campaign, not multiplayer, but it will not function without the Uplay Passport. So, if you borrow Black Flag from a friend, or purchase a used copy it won’t work. Of course, Ubisoft offers a way around this problem in the form of the ability to purchase a new Uplay Passport code. But buyer beware: if you purchase the game used, Black Flag will require a further payment to fully unlock the single player content.

Black Flag is being released on current-gen and next-gen consoles, so we can expect this to be a feature on the PS4 and Xbox One versions, too. In fact, it’s going to be the first instance of an online pass for a next-gen game. The only detail we don’t know yet is how much purchasing a Uplay Passport will cost. I’d guess Ubisoft will want at least $10 for one, though.

You’d think Ubisoft would have learned by now that gamers do not appreciate having content blocked by a pay wall. EA scrapped its Online Pass due to negative feedback from gamers. Ubisoft persists, though, and I will not be surprised to see it negatively impact sales of the game if enough gamers hear about the content blocking.

I am also left wondering if Watch Dogs will have a similar Uplay Passport requirement for single player content? I suspect it will.